Drifter Girl
by snipershezz
Summary: Finding your place in the world is hard, especially for a drifter like Edi.
1. Chapter 1

**Characters:** John Hancock, Original Female Character(s), Daisy, Fahrenheit, Female Sole Survivor, Dogmeat, Original Animal Character(s),

 **Relationships:** John Hancock/Original Female Character(s)

 **Tags:** Het, Ghoul, Romance, Adventure

 **Summary:** Finding your place in the world is hard, especially for a drifter like Edi.

 **A/N:** This piece was written for the Fallout kink meme. This started out as just a fill and then it turned into a 20,000 monster that will eventually become a series because I've half written another four pieces that centre around this OC, nothing concrete yet but I will definitely leave links to them if anyone is interested when they have been finished, anyway I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it :) I'll be posting a chapter up each day as it's going to be too much to post up all at once :)

 **The original prompt was as follows:** Give me an OC falling for a named character, I would prefer a female OC with a male npc, but if you want to go a different route that's fine.

 **Part One of the** ** _Drifter Girl Verse_**

* * *

Edi popped a couple of Rad-x pills and stared up into the sky. She was one of the few humans in Goodneighbor who stood outside during a radiation storm. She enjoyed the green haze and the incredible flashes of bright lightening, it made her feel that little bit more alive. She closed her eyes and breathed in the metallic smell, it reminded her of home, but home was a long way away, and this place? Well - it was close enough. She wasn't the odd one out here, and most people were friendly. Even though most other places frowned upon drifters as if they were the scum of the irradiated earth, Goodneighbor welcomed them.

The metallic smell grew stronger and she opened her eyes. Leaning against the wall a foot away was the mayor of Goodneighbor himself, John Hancock.

"Most o' you smoothskins have escaped inside already. What makes you different sister?" His voice was rough, like gravel crunching under your boots.

She smiled, holding up the bottle of Rad-x that had been loosely clutched in her fingers and shaking it. "Breakfast of champions."

He chuckled, "Like watching the storms?"

She nodded looking up again. "They are beautiful, but mostly it's the radiation smell. Reminds me of home."

He reached into his pocket, producing a Jet inhaler, he held it out to her. "Want a hit?"

She shook her head, "I don't do chems, but thanks." He looked slightly put out and she was worried she had offended him, he went to place it back in his jacket. "It's ok," she said quickly, "I haven't got anything against 'em, or people who use. Go ahead, really."

He raised a brow, "You sure?"

She nodded, "Of course, go for it." She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. His was crooked as he smiled back, putting the Jet to his lips, he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. She watched in fascination as his entire body went almost boneless, his head dropped back against the wall and his tongue snaked out to lick his lips. He tossed the inhaler into the trashcan almost 30 feet away. She was impressed, he was a good shot, though she wouldn't expect he had gotten to be mayor on his charisma alone, she had heard tales of that legendary charisma, she wondered briefly if any of it was true.

He pulled out a battered packet of cigarettes, placing one in mouth he offered the pack to her, "Want one?" The cigarette bobbed around his words.

"Yes please," she replied. He flicked a silver lighter to life stepping closer to light hers for her. She noticed with an exhale he didn't move away again.

They stood against the wall, shoulders almost touching, he broke the companionable silence. "Is there any particular reason you don't use sister? There ain't a lot of drifters around who don't, it's unusual I guess."

She shrugged, "I ain't like most around here." She blew a couple of smoke rings, "There's three reasons actually. My Mammy - well the woman who raised me anyway - she told me if she ever caught me doing chems, she'd stick her foot so far up my ass my spine would come out my eye." Hancock laughed, the sound was rich, Edi grinned, "The second reason is I don't have the caps to keep up the habit. Third reason is similar to the second, I don't have the cash to buy the stuff that gets you off 'em."

He smiled, "I would think the spine through the eyeball is reason enough."

She laughed, "Yeah, well, a hard woman is my Mammy, loving and all that but - damn - you'd never wanna piss her off."

Hancock crushed the butt under his boot, pushing himself off the wall. "Well, it was nice to meet you sister."

"Edith. Most people call me Edi."

"Edi. It's pretty that." She felt her cheeks heat up, his eyes flickered down to her blushing skin and he gave her a cocky smirk. "If, ya ever need caps, I got some jobs that need doin'. They're not a walk in the park mind, but there's caps in it. Come see me if yer interested."

She smiled, "Thanks, I might just do that." Edi watched him walk away.

Damn, crushing on the town mayor was such a bad idea.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Edi nervously approached the mayor's office. She knocked lightly. "Mayor Hancock?"

A woman was lounging on one of the couches in the centre of the room. She eyed Edi up. "John?" Her voice was like ice crawling down Edi's spine, she shivered. "You got a visitor."

"Who?" His voice called from the other room.

"Some drifter girl, tiny thing. Know 'er?"

"Yeah, comin'."

The woman gestured to the couch. "Take a seat."

Edi walked into the room, "Thank you." The room was filled with boxes of paperwork, empty packets, syringes, bottles and inhalers were strewn around on every surface. Hancock appeared out of the darkness pulling on his red coat. The buttons of the old shirt weren't done up all the way, he looked like he'd just woken up - or something else.

She wondered - with a slight pang of jealousy - as to whether there was a woman in that dark room.

 _Don't be ridiculous Edith! You have no claim on him, stop acting like a child!_

"Hey sister, decided to take the job then?"

She smiled, "Yeah, well I know thin is in and all but I'm one can of Cram away from emaciation."

Hancock snorted. "Alright. Here's the deal," He threw himself onto the couch next to her, he lit two cigarettes, handing her one. Such a small gesture, yet it made her heart pound. His lips had been on this cigarette.

 _Ok - now you're acting like a teenager, quit it._

"Got word there's some funny stuff goin' on at Pickman's Gallery near here, people are disappearing and I need to make sure it ain't for unsavory reasons, ya feel me?"

"Sure." She pulled her pack off her back, digging around inside it. She grasped the pen from her hair and pulled it out, spreading her map on the table she handed Hancock the pen. He bent over it, cigarette between his teeth, squinting slightly through the smoke he marked the position on the faded piece of paper.

Dropping the pen he lent back on the couch, "I'll be honest with you doll, this ain't gonna be a leisurely stroll in the ruins, the last person I sent there didn't come back." She packed up the map, replacing the pen in her hair. Shit, this was going to be a battle she could feel it, Edi swallowed heavily. "I need ya to be thorough too, don't just duck in and back out, eradicate whatever it is pinching our people. There'll be 200 caps in it if you can get the job done."

She smiled in what she hoped was a confident way, "Consider it done."

He looked at her calculatingly, "Don't take any unnecessary risks, ok?" She nodded. "You got stims? Ammo?"

"Yep all right here." She tapped the pack lightly.

He smirked, "Good." She got up, reaching into her bag, she pulled out her weapons, laying them on the table. Partly so she could put them on, the other part to impress. A low whistle came from her woman sitting across from them. Edi strapped the sniper to her back, fixing the pack over the top of it.

"Little girl is packing!"

She smirked, "My one weakness is guns."

The woman laughed, "We should compare sometime." Edi's eyes shot up to meet the older woman's.

"Put it back in your pants Fahrenheit." Hancock growled. Edi blushed, sliding the machete into it's sheath on her thigh and fixing the highly modified 10mm into her holster. She picked up the combat shotgun. "That's an old ass gun dollface."

Edi examined her gun, "My best friend back home gave it to me before I left, it was his favourite gun. Medusa may look old but she tears through anything in her way like it was paper. It ain't the age of the gun but the condition you keep it in. Am I right?" She winked at him cheekily. "Anywho, I'll try to be back in the next couple of days." She exited the room. As she walked down the stairs she balked at herself,

 _You just flirted with the mayor! What the fuck is the matter with you?!_

She shook her head.

 _Just go and get the damn job done, you great idiot._

Hancock stared after the strange little woman. "Did she just make a crack at my age?"

His oldest friend and second in command laughed, "No you dumb ass, she was flirting with you." She sighed, "Shame too, all the pretty girls are always straight."


	3. Chapter 3

Edi lowered the gun with shaking hands. She couldn't believe a person would do something this - _fucking sick._ She stared down hard at the body of a sociopath. It was a rather poetic justice that he'd ended up just like his victims. Forty-six hours she'd been in this hell, with her pack weighed down with everything she could possibly carry, she walked out of Pickman's Gallery.

Two hours later - blood soaked and grinning - she walked into Daisy's shop, tracking a vile mixture of blood and dirt in with her. She threw her pack heavily onto the desk, " _Damn_ that thing was heavy! Hey Daisy."

"Hey kid, where the hell have you been? You look like you've spent a week swimming in meat bags."

The smile dropped off her face. "Not something I ever want to talk about Daisy."

The ghoul nodded, "Fair enough. Got some things to trade?"

"Sure do." She tipped the bag out on the table, separating the things she wanted to keep and placing them back in the battered backpack. Daisy separated each item, inspecting it and writing it down on a scrap of paper.

After a few minutes she spoke, "You're looking at 250, plus the money I owe you for that job you pulled for me."

Edi smiled, "You sure you can afford to pay me for that? I told you, I didn't do it for the caps. Geez, Daisy you helped me when I first came here, you gave me food, water and caps. You don't owe me a damn thing."

Daisy simply grinned, tossing seven bags on the table. "350, you're a good girl, you been a good friend to me Edi and we help each other out. There may be a time when I can't pay ya for your help, but this time I can. Don't bitch about it, just take it."

Edi rung her hands in front of her, "Are you sure?"

Daisy smiled kindly, "Yes, now do yourself a favour and go rent a hotel room. Take a shower, pamper yourself a bit. Go to the Three Rail. You're young. Have some fun."

Edi grinned, "Thanks Daisy, you're a doll." She turned to leave.

"Don't forget to talk to Hancock, he's been worrying himself silly ever since you left."

She looked shocked, then she smiled, "Really?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, really. I think he's sweet on you kid."

Edi scoffed, "Naw he wouldn't be interested in a nobody like me, probably just worried he'll look bad if another person goes missin'."

Daisy grinned knowingly, "Whatever you reckon Edi."

She walked to the door, "Bye Daisy and thanks."

"Anytime sweetheart." Once she was sure Edi was gone she turned to the shadows of the shop. "You finished lurking John?" Silence. Daisy sighed, "I can see your eyes." She heard him curse softly.

"I wasn't lurkin'." He replied petulantly, stepping out.

Daisy crossed her arms, "Really? How do you see it then? 'Cause from where I'm standing it looked an awful lot like you were lurking."

"I was – shit -"

"Mmmm." She looked at him clearly unimpressed, "An eavesdropper never hears anything good about themselves."

He looked at his boots, there was always something about this woman that made him feel like a ten-year-old boy. "Yeah alright you made yer point."

She smirked knowingly, "Edi's a good girl, don't you go screwin' with her head, you ain't too old for me to beat yer ass."

Hancock seemed to forget he was mayor and a grown ass man for a minute. "Yes ma'am."

She nodded, happy now she'd given him the equivalent to the 'shovel talk'. "Get back in your office, she'll be coming to talk to you soon."

He headed towards the door, stopping short at the threshold. "You really think she's sweet on me?"

Daisy smirked, "I was right, wasn't I? You got a thing for little Edi."

His face darkened, "I ain't got nothin' for nobody." He stormed out of her shop in a swirl of dramatics and red frock coat.

Daisy shook her head. Sometimes she wondered how he became mayor at all. That man couldn't see his own emotions if they beat him down like a deathclaw.


	4. Chapter 4

Edi slid the key in the lock of the hotel door. She felt much better after a shower, she was wearing her usual drifters outfit, she briefly considered the pretty green dress she found but decided that she would never feel comfortable in it. Stick to what you know. She dropped down the steps of the hotel, cigarette between her lips and lit before she hit the payment. She headed straight to the Old State House. The guards greeted her kindly, one asking about the job, she'd replied that it was done.

He chuckled knowingly, "If anyone could get it done it would be you, Edi, well either you or Sole, but it looks like you snatched this one out from underneath her."

Edi stopped mid stride on her way to the staircase. "Who?"

"You know, Sole."

"No Mac, I don't."

"Damn you really been keeping to yourself lately huh? Sole's the vault girl."

She stared at him, "A vaultie? Jesus, I haven't seen a vault dweller for fucking years."

"Yeah? Well ain't nothing around like her. You hear she's helping out Ken?"

She leaned against the railing, "Kenny? I didn't know he needed help. Damn I woulda done it for free, I adore that sweet little bastard."

Mac tutted, "Fuckin' Ken, all the girls fawn ova him like he's a puppy or somethin'. Here I am busting my ass, keeping everything together and he gets all the women, just by being pathetic."

She snorted, "Aww Mac. Have a cup of concrete."

He frowned, "What?"

Edi raised an eyebrow. "Drink a cup of concrete and harden the fuck up. Ain't you never heard that one before?"

"Naw."

She looked thoughtful, "Huh. Must be a DC thing." After a pause she continued, "The mayor in?"

"Yeah go on up."

"Cheers no ears."

Mac snorted, shaking his head.

She took the stairs two at a time, knocking lightly on the half open door.

Hancock looked up, "Edi! Glad to see you in one piece doll."

She gave him a small smile. "Glad to be in one piece."

He frowned, "You ok?"

She laughed humorlessly, "No."

"Shit – Fahrenheit get us the whiskey will ya? The good stuff." The woman nodded moving from her perch on the arm of a couch. "Sit down sister." Edi threw herself onto the couch, everything that happened in the last forty-eight hours hit her like a ton of rubble. Her body shook, Hancock sat next to her looking genuinely concerned. He lit her a cigarette handing it to her. "What happened doll?"

"Jesus." Her eyes teared up, she blinked them away furiously. The bottle of whisky and two glasses were placed on the table in front of her.

"Give us some space eh?"

Fahrenheit nodded, "I'll be downstairs John, yell if you need anythin'."

He nodded gratefully. "Edith?" She looked up at him, eyes shining. "Shit! What can I do doll?" He poured her some whisky and she took it in her unstable hands.

"I'm ok, it just hit me you know? I'll be ok in a minute." She took a long swig of the whisky, wincing as it burned her throat. "Pickman was a sicko. He was chopping up bodies and using them for art."

"Damn. That's messed up. Even for this town."

A hysterical little giggle bubbled up, "Ya think?" A sob escaped her before she could stop it.

Hancock cursed, "I'm sorry I put you through that toots, if I'd have known I woulda dealt with it myself." He put an arm around her shoulders, she leaned into him gratefully.

"It's ok, I dealt with it." She sipped at the whisky, "Shot the fucker in the face."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Good girl. There ain't no justice in this world for people like that." He pulled the arm from her shoulders, leaning forwards to pop a Mentat out of its casing. He sat back chewing thoughtfully. "That's a 300 cap job."

She leveled him with a hard look, "Don't you feel sorry for me. We agreed on 200, don't you dare go more than that, I don't need fucking pitty." He studied her face carefully. Edi tried not to wither under that black gaze.

"I ain't a fucking pity party doll. I'm just sayin' it was a bigger job than I thought. It's worth 300 if you want it." She thought about it, and while 300 would be nice, she just got 350 from Daisy, that would last her months if she was careful and with 200 from Hancock she could maybe afford some junk to modify her guns.

"200 was the price, I'm happy with that."

He nodded, "Alright." He fished around in his pockets pulling out a bag. "I got more jobs for ya, when you're ready."

She took the package. "Thank you. I guess I'll see you in a few days."

He patted her should lightly. "Sure doll, take as long as you need."

When she reached the safety of her hotel room she counted the caps, there were 250 and a carton of cigarettes. Edi shook her head and grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

Edi paced back and forth in front of the Old State House. She'd been working fairly solidly for the mayor the last month and she had accumulated a fair amount of caps. With anything she could salvage from the jobs plus the payments from him, she was sitting fairly pretty. She had even been able to gift him with a rare shotgun she had found in the ruins. They were on pretty good terms and she didn't want to ruin that - but this was the biggest fucking job she'd ever been offered and she couldn't resist. She dropped her current cigarette on the ground, crushing it under her boot. Taking a deep breath she opened the door to the Old State House. She chatted to Mac and Vinnie for a few minutes, really just trying to stall the inevitable before heading nervously up the stairs.

"- you've stumbled on something big here Sole." Edi raised her eyebrows, the vaultie was here? Her nervousness tripled as she approached the door. Wrapping lightly on the door frame, three people and a dog looked in her direction. Hancock grinned widely. "Edi! How's my favourite drifter?"

She smirked entering the room, he patted the couch next to him and she threw herself into the space. "Good Hancock. How's my favourite mayor?"

He chuckled tossing her his packet of cigarettes, "Ah you know, the usual shit."

Edi lit her smoke, handing him back the packet. She appraised the woman sitting next to Fahrenheit, "So this is the vaultie. Sole right?"

The woman stretched out her long legs, scratching her blond hair with a fingernail. "Yeah that's what they call me. Name's Nora. This is Dogmeat."

A gorgeous dog with a sleek coat butted his snout against her arm. Edi grinned, she loved dogs, she had always wanted one of her own but she never befriended one because she had barely been able to afford to feed herself. She scratched behind his ears. He quickly disappeared behind the couch and came back with a teddy bear in his teeth.

Nora chuckled, "He likes you, he only ever brings that to Mama Murphy, Hancock or Me." Dogmeat bent down woofing playfully.

"Wow that's a pretty teddy boy. Can I have it?" She swiped forwards and Dogmeat darted backwards out of reach. "Oh it's like that is it?" Edi replied, standing up. "Gunna make me work for it? Ok you're on!" She chased the dog around the room as he darted playfully around.

Hancock watched her for a few minutes, she really was something else. She was a tiny little thing, who looked like she couldn't hurt a bloatfly, but he had seen her fight. Last month the town had endured a particularly bad run of radroaches, the things were everywhere. Edi had ended up going on a spree of slicing the things down with her machete, she had followed an injured one back to the nest, and although he hadn't seen it, she had come back covered in radroach guts, grinning like a maniac.

She was pretty too, long red hair tied up in a bun, big chocolate eyes that were so dark they looked black until you got right up close to her. She had a smile like the sunshine and a laugh like the sound of chimes. Altogether she was -

"-ohn?" His eyes refocused on Nora, she was giving him an amused look. "You didn't hear a word of that did you?"

He grinned sheepishly, suddenly very glad that his skin no longer had the ability to blush. "Sorry toots, must have spaced out."

Nora and Fahrenheit shared a look. " _Sure_ you did. Now, crime bosses?"

"Right." Hancock proceeded to give her the rundown on the job, Edi listened with interest as she played with Dogmeat. It sounded like a hell of a job, two bosses plus the leader all in different locations. "- if you can pull this off, Goodneighbor's going to be a hell of a lot safer."

Nora gave him a lazy salute, "Your enemies are my enemies John, consider them eliminated." Standing up she retrieved her things. "Come on Dogmeat, you can play with your new friend next time."

He looked at Edi and whined. "Go on boy, go with Nora. I'll see you next time, I'll see if I can find a baseball or something and I'll toss it for you out by the Three Rail." He woofed happily.

"Thanks -"

"Edi." She replied standing up, the other woman stuck out her hand.

"It was lovely to meet you."

Edi took it in a firm grip. "Likewise." Nora smiled warmly, waving as she left the room. Edi returned to her seat next to Hancock. "What a nice bird." She commented.

Fahrenheit sighed, "Pity she's straight. And married."

Edi raised a brow. "She's married?"

"Her husband was murdered." Hancock supplied.

"Oh my God that's awful."

He nodded, "Stole her boy too."

She turned wide eyes on him, "They _stole_ her son?"

He inspected the ends of his fingers before looking up at her with sad eyes. "The Institute."

Edi gave him a pained look. "Those fuckers."

"Yeah." He sighed loudly, rubbing his scarred face with a hand. "Anyway, reason you're up here? Not that I ain't happy with the pleasure of your company but I don't have any jobs goin' right now -"

She smirked at him, "I got a job. A big one. Therein lies my problem. This job is too big for one person."

He took a deep drag on his cigarette. The smoke plumed out of his nose. "You need good people?"

She shook her head. "I need one good person, someone I can trust not to shoot me in the back." She paused, "I need you." Both brows shot up and a devilish grin appeared on his face. Edi frowned and then blushed as she realised the double meaning in her words. She wacked him on the shoulder, "Don't be an ass, Hancock."

He chuckled, shaking his head, "Seriously though. _Me_?"

Edi fiddled with her fingernails. "You've got a wealth of experience in the Commonwealth, you're smart, you're and damn good shot and - and I trust you." She snuck a look at him, Hancock looked like he wanted to smile.

"How much is this job worth?"

"5000."

"Fuck. That's a lot of caps."

"It's 2500 each."

"Fifty-fifty, huh?"

"If you're in this with me, we split it even. I ain't gunna stiff ya."

"Never dreamed you would doll. You're far too sweet to do that."

Edi couldn't help it, every scrap of a compliment or kind word from his and she blushed like a goddamn virgin, this time was no different. "You in?"

He leaned forwards toying with an old Jet canister. "Gimme twenty-four hours, I'll get everythin' in order, then come back and see me, we'll discuss this job o' yours."

She nodded, "Sure."


	6. Chapter 6

Fahrenheit tossed a new pack of Mentats on the desk beside him.

"Thanks toots." He continued tapping away at the console.

"You gunna do the job?" Hancock sighed, leaning back in the chair he took off his glasses, rubbing his eyes. "It's five grand John, ain't somement to be sneezed at."

He chewed on one of the arms of the glasses. "With that many caps at stake it's a lot of risk."

His friend snorted, "Since when you cared about risk?"

He leveled her with a look, "Since I got responsible for a fuck ton o' people. This town relies on me, kid."

"Ah Johnny boy look at you, all responsible 'n' shit."

He snorted, putting his glasses back on, "Go do somethin' useful Fara, I gotta finish these ledgers."

* * *

When Edi knocked on Hancock's office door two hours later he was still bent over the console. The pack of Mentats was gone and the ashtray was overflowing.

"Mayor Hancock?"

"Hmmm?

Fahrenheit was downstairs playing poker with Mac and Vinnie, she remarked offhandedly as she went to ascend the stairs that she would have to teach them Caravan one day. Vinnie, who was on a bad loosing streak perked up a little at that. She had taught a very good friend how to play, and the bastard had trumped her at it. Skinny smug fucker he was, then again there wasn't much Dean wasn't good at. She shook her head returning to the present.

"You wanted twenty-four hours, it's been twenty-nine. You ready to talk about the job now?"

Clearly distracted by whatever was on the screen, he made a noncommittal noise. "Take a seat Edi, I'll be done in a minute."

She looked at the couches covered in boxes and paperwork, "Uhhh, sure."

She shifted boxes and papers onto the coffee table. She sat for a few minutes, leaning forwards on her knees. Hancock muttered to himself tapping the keyboard. She smirked, clearly his 'minute' was going to take a while. Pulling a battered novel out of her pack she reclined on the surprisingly comfortable couch and began to read. Drifting off into a world of dragons and handsome heroes, her eyes grew heavy, until finally she dozed off.


	7. Chapter 7

Sunlight from the windows pierced her eyelids and she squinted in the dim morning light. Sitting up slowly, she looked around puzzled. She was in Hancock's office, at some point in the night someone, more than likely Hancock himself, had taken off her reading glasses, moved her book to the coffee table and put a blanket over her. She smiled, rubbing her eyes. The man in question was strewn across the other couch lazily, hat askew, glasses in the hand that hung over the edge of the comfortable piece of furniture. Edi stretched, the bones in her spine popping loudly. She took a moment to admire the sleeping ghoul before moving to crouch next to him.

She put a hand gently on his shoulder, "Mayor Hancock?"

His eyes snapped open and before she could blink the gun that had been holstered at her side, was pointed dangerously at her temple, the barrel cold against her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut, she heard the click of the safety and the gun was replaced in her holster. Opening one eye, she saw him looking at her sheepishly.

"Sorry doll, old habits die hard."

She exhaled a shaky breath she didn't realise she was holding, "It's ok, if you'd have woken me up I probably would've knifed you in the guts."

Shock flitted across his features then he grinned wolfishly, "I knew I liked you for a reason." Edi blushed. "Want some coffee?" He continued.

"You have _coffee?!_ "

"Yeah." He waggled his brows, "It's my second best kept secret." He got up from the couch, disappearing and reappearing with a coffee tin.

"What's your first?" She asked lighting them both a cigarette.

He took it from her, pointing to the abandoned glasses on the table, "Wouldn't do much for my bad ass image people knowin' I'm as blind as a bat when I gotta work with the books." He turned to pour the coffee into two chipped mugs. "That ain't my best best kept secret though."

She smirked, "Care to part with that knowledge bomb?"

He handed her the cup, as she took a sip he leaned in close to her ear. "I got a massive dick." She choked on the hot liquid. He slapped her back laughing, "Jesus toots, it was a joke, damn don't die on me." She gasped in much needed air.

 _Good Lord, my mind is going to have fun with that one later._

"Hilarious." She croaked.

He chuckled, taking a seat on the couch she'd vacated earlier. "Now, let's hear about this job. Start from the top and we'll see if we can work out a plan."

She sat next to him. Silent for a minute before giving him a sly sideways glance, she grinned timing it just right as he took a sip of his coffee. "I would think with your reputation, your dick wouldn't really be a secret now would it, _big guy_."

She bit her lip to keep from collapsing in a fit of giggles as he performed what had to be the most spectacular spit take she'd ever seen. Once he had recovered he turned to her, grinning, his black eyes filled with mirth. It took her breath away. They sat looking at each other for a minute, the atmosphere charged before she couldn't stand it anymore and looked away.

She coughed clearing her throat awkwardly, "So - uh - you're in then?"

He shrugged leaning back on the couch casually, "Eh. I'd like to know what it is before I go jumpin' in feet first."

"Right." She took another sip of the coffee. "Some big shots must've got wind that I was doin' some jobs, ya know for people 'round here because two days ago a man approached me offering 5000 caps for a recovery of some artifact. Now, I done that shit before back home with my best friend. Though that job isn't the best example of my ability to recover things successfully."

"I take it there's probably a long story behind that." He replied, sipping the coffee from the mug in his hands.

"Yeah, real long, I'll tell you that stunner another time. Anyway so he gave me the run down and it ain't gonna be easy. He's sent three different teams down there and only one person has ever come back. A ghoul and well - he was bat shit - _raving_ bat shit by the time they got to him. Muttering about being safe in the light or some such creepy shit. The job was originally a three grand job, but they upped it 'cause of the risks."

Hancock looked at her incredulously, "And you just took it? Just like that?"

She gave him a look, "I ain't a moron, I said I'd see if I could get a partner and that I'd contact 'em when I'd found someone."

"Right. So do you have anything solid? Details?"

She nodded, "It's in a mine, fuckin' raiders have taken up residence, one you get past them, the guy reckoned the mine was filled with radiation, like fuck tons of it, so it's more than likely it will be completely infested with ferals. This job is going to take a lot of fire power, so I spoke to KLEO and she reckons she can lend some power amour in payment of a job I did a couple months back - mind you - she wants them back clean and repaired. That won't be an issue though, because I know how to fix them, and she's got an amour station in her shop."

"Alright. Sounds good so far. What are we after?"

"It's a ceremonial sword."

"A sword." Hancock scoffed, "They are paying 5000 caps for a sword?"

"Yeah." She leant sideways putting a boot on the coffee table. "This thing must be _the shit_." She tapped a cigarette out her pack, "Hopefully it ain't one of those end the fuckin' world artifacts like the last time." He stared at her. "I _really_ gotta tell you that story sometime." She lit the smoke, breathing it out in a huff. "I gotta tell you though, there's a good chance we won't come back from this, whole teams have been sent and no dice." She looked at him as casually as possible, his eyes were shining with something like excitement, she grinned, "So Mr. Mayor, you in?"

"Impossible odds, a chance at lovely company, and a change of scenery from these four fucking walls?" He grinned at her, "Hell yeah I'm in."


	8. Chapter 8

Hancock arrived the next morning decked out to the nines with guns, ammo, and a pack full of chems and meds. Edi's own pack was filled with much of the same excluding chems and meds, she had agreed to bring their food and water supplies. Hancock strolled up casually, just as Edi was finishing up tinkering with a wayward servo on her amour.

"Mornin' toots."

She looked up smiling, when she focused on him her mouth went dry. His colonial garb was gone, replaced with a set of form fitting road leathers, complete with a trench coat and fingerless gloves, on his head was a battered old cowboy hat. She swallowed.

 _Damn he looks so bad ass in that._

"Hey Hancock."

He looked at the armour as she wiped her hands on a rag, "So this is the power armour huh?"

"Yep," she wrapped her knuckles lightly on the metal of hers, "Gave 'em a new paint job, thought you'd get a kick out of the flames."

He chuckled, "Hell yeah, I like it, thanks doll."

"I liked the blue so I went with that."

"It's nice. So ready to go?"

"Yep, I figure we could take these out of the ruins and get a feel for 'em before we head to the mine. I don't want us to be goin' in there half cocked ya know?"

He nodded heading around to the back of the armour, "How many fusion cores have we got for these things?" He asked, popping the suit open.

"Five each. I been collecting them, figured one day I'd have enough to get a suit."

He swung himself up into the suit. It clicked shut and he shook his limbs to get a feel for it. "Nice."

She could hear the grin in his voice even with modulation. Her suit clicked shut and she waited for the interface to load, "Alright let's do this shit."

* * *

Edi and Hancock spent most of the day practicing maneuvers in the suits, learning to accustomise their fighting styles to the limitations and strengths of the power amour. They had cleared out a small raider hideout nearby to see how they worked together as a team. Thankfully they worked like a well oiled machine, where Edi had strengths, Hancock had weaknesses and where she fumbled he picked up the slack. She was pleased. He could also cook which was a welcome surprise.

Handing her a plate of mutt chops from an attack hound, he smirked at her, "We did pretty good today toots."

"Yeah, I reckon we make a good team eh?"

He dug into his chops with gusto, he swallowed a large chunk, "Yeah, I tell ya what, this beats what I do every damn day, it's nice to be able to sharpen the ol' killer instincts."

She smiled, they finished dinner in silence. Hancock took the plates putting them aside, he got out a bottle of whisky and two glasses. She nodded in thanks as he poured her one.

"I noticed," she pondered as she took the glass from his hand, "you haven't done any chems since we left. I told ya before, I ain't gonna think less of ya for it."

He pulled out a lunchbox and opened it, "I know," he replied pulling out some Mentats, "it's just a bit hard to administer yourself a high when you're in a tin can all day."

She nodded, "Well next time you wanna stop for a - uh - chem break let me know. If we're workin' together it's gotta be give and take, ya here?"

The crunch of the tablet in his mouth was loud in the stillness of the night, "So what's your story doll?"

She took a sip of whisky, "It's a long ass story there Hancock, don't think I could tell that one in one night."

"Give me the condensed version then."

She snorted, "I was born in the Capital Wasteland, my birth mother got sick - real sick. I only know what I was told, she died when I was a baby, my best friend, he said she was a chem addict, probably why Mammy was always so dead set against them. I grew up in a town that was a little bit different," she paused, "ok, _a lot_ different, kinda like Goodneighbor, except more ghouls. Well - only ghouls actually - it was a city of ghouls. Underworld. My Mammy, Carol owns the inn there, she raised me like I was her own. The Wasteland was a bad place back then - there was one person though who made a real difference. The Lone Wanderer, Three Dog used to call her, that was the local DJ." She deepened her voice in an imitation that would make Three Dog shiver in horror. "Because one dog ain't enough and two is too low this is Three Dog and you're listening to Galaxy News Radio!" Hancock chuckled. "I used to listen to him all the time, oh man and he had these old holotapes of this show, kinda like the Silver Shroud but way cooler, the Adventures of Herbert 'Daring' Dashwood and his stalwart ghoul manservant Argyle." She grinned, "Those were the days. Anyways, my best friend, he traveled with the Lone Wanderer for a couple of years, one day he came back, but she wasn't with him. God, I remember him sitting in the Ninth Circle for days, I was the only one who approached him, everyone else was too scared. See he's like six foot seven and built like a brick shit-house. I was twelve and he was huge, I sat down next to him and he just looked at me with this broken look and I got off the seat and hugged him. He didn't say a word, just hugged me for hours. He taught me everything I know. How to fight, repair stuff, the best place to put a stim when you're injured."

"Sounds like a good bloke."

She smiled, "Yeah. Yeah he really is, smart as hell too. He's pre-war, used to tell me stories about before the bombs fell." She snorted, "That old bastard was my first crush."

Hancock raised a brow, "Anything ever come of it?"

Edi shook her head, "Naw, teenage crushes pass over time, besides, I figured out after some time that his heart belonged to her."

"The Lone Wanderer?"

She nodded, "I was only a kid and - you know - I love Charon but hell - he's like my brother and that's just - _icky_. I left DC when I was eighteen, I wanted him to come with me so much, but he said his place was in Underworld. I understand what he means, when you find a place that you see yourself a part of, you don't ever want to leave that. I like doing what I do, but Underworld will always be my home."

"What did you do after you left DC?"

Edi yawned, "That's a tale for another night I think. Imma get some sleep."

"Alright doll." She got up from the chair. "Edi?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

She smiled, "You're welcome."


	9. Chapter 9

Edi stared through her scope. "Your thoughts?"

"Turrets need disabling. Those are Mark Vs, the fuckers shoot fireballs."

She gave him a sideways glance, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, they'll take us out easy, even in these suits."

"Shit. Ok, so you reckon those prefabs at the top might have the terminals?"

"I'd say so, yeah. How do we get to them though? We ain't exactly inconspicuous are we?"

"Stealth boy. I got one in my pack."

"Really?"

"Yeah found it last time I did a job for you, thought it might come in handy."

"Well fuck, nice job sister, that'll make this a lot easier."

She smiled at the praise, "I count twelve raiders and five turrets."

"Nah doll, look." He angled her gun a little to the left.

"Ok so fifteen raiders and five turrets." She breathed out slowly, "Shit, that's a lot of raiders. Ok, so we do this now?" She glanced up from the scope to see him shaking his head.

"We should do this at night - better cover. These punk asses won't have night vision scopes, they're organised but they don't have enough brain cells to think of that shit. We still have to disable the turrets though, they work on heat signatures."

"So I'll have to avoid the line of sight even under the stealth boy."

His helmet stilled, she could tell he was giving her a look, "I'll do it."

"You know how to hack?"

"Yeah I can."

"But not _well_."

He sighed, "Nah, not as well as I'd like."

"Then I'll do it. I've got a knack for that shit."

Hancock knew she was right, he didn't like it, but she was right. They edged back from the cliff, returning to their little shack to wait for the cover of the evening.


	10. Chapter 10

Hancock settled back in the chair bonelessly, tossing the Jet inhaler across the shack. "So," he breathed, "story time toots, tell me more."

She looked at him - the very picture of casual - sprawled in the chair and she smiled, "Why do you want to know so badly Hancock?"

He shrugged, "You're interesting. You're so young, yet you've done so much. Kinda makes me feel like an old man." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"I'm not as young as you think and you ain't as old as you make out." She lit a cigarette, taking a seat across from him, "Where was I?"

"You left DC when you were eighteen."

"Right, right. When I told Mammy I was leaving she went crazy with worry. I send her a letter every month, just as I promised I would. When I told Charon he just smiled and handed me Medusa. He's not a man of words, more of action." She laughed softly, "He's had that gun since before the war, giving it to me?" She shook her head smiling, "That was the _most_ meaningful thing. It meant the world to me."

"How did you become friends with Charon?"

She sniggered, "That's kind of a funny story, I was five years old -"

* * *

 _She wasn't supposed to be in here, Mammy told her it was off limits, but Az liked her, he told her she was good for business, whatever that meant. She didn't mind Az, he was a bit mean to people but he always gave her a Nuka Cola when she would sneak in when Mammy wasn't looking._

 _Giant bottle clutched between her tiny fingers she went to her favourite corner, she placed the bottle onto the table and clambered up onto the chair. She looked up at the colossal ghoul in the corner, he was as tall as a tree. Mammy had shown her those in a book once._

 _"Hi ya Charon."_

 _The ghoul's eyes flickered briefly over to the bar, before looking down at her. The tiniest of smiles tugged at his lips before disappearing. She wondered why everyone was so scared of Charon, he was nice, sure he didn't talk much - well -_ _ **ever**_ _really but he listened and she loved that._

 _"Unca Quinn found me a book today. It's about pirates!"_

 _She took a sip of the cola, leaning it carefully down to her mouth, she'd spilled it once and she was all sticky for the rest of the day, she couldn't tell Mammy, because she wasn't allowed to have cola, and then Mammy would have found out she came to the Ninth Circle, and Edi didn't like getting in trouble._

 _"Do you like pirates Charon?"_

 _His head tipped a fraction to the side._

 _She had learnt what most of these tiny signals meant over time, she didn't understand why he didn't just talk, then again she didn't understand why he stood in a corner all day, didn't he get bored? She was sure she would._

 _"Me too, I'd like to be a pirate one day. Maybe I could go to England! Or or Australia! Mammy showed me those places in her books, I could be a pirate and have my own ship and go anywhere I wanted."_

 _She spent the rest of the afternoon chatting to Charon in his corner. Edi liked it here, the people were nice, Mammy said Underworld was the only safe place for people like them. She didn't get it, why did people hate the ghouls? They were nice! Nicer than anyone she'd ever met._

 _She was a smoothskin, Mammy said the radiations made them ghouls, Edi thought that must have hurt a lot, as most of the ghouls were missing skin. They lived a real long time too, Mammy was over 200 years old! Edi was only five, but she knew that was a_ _ **long, long, long**_ _time._

* * *

 _Two days later she came in sniffling, she didn't even bother to go and get a drink from Az, she just went straight to Charon. She hugged his legs, looking up at him with glassy eyes, a pained look crossed his face, he stood stock still._

 _"It's gone Charon! Teddy's gone! Someone took him. Why would someone take Teddy?"_

 _He said nothing, she wiped her nose on his pants. Looking up at him, she was suddenly angry, why wouldn't he_ _ **talk**_ _! She just wanted him to tell her it was going to be ok, but he just stood there, she felt like kicking his shin._

 _"Don't you care?"_

 _The pained look crossed his face again, his head tipped to the side, way more than usual. A definite yes, but Edi found she didn't care, she just wanted him to talk._

 _A scowl crossed her face, "You just think I'm a stopid kid. You don't care 'bout me at all!" The bar was silent, echoing with her words._

 _Charon's face was like stone, Edi sobbed again and turned away. Through her tears she could see Az smirking meanly, that face frightened her, she wanted to go and hide behind Charon's leg, but he didn't care about her or about Teddy. She swallowed her fear and left the bar._

* * *

" _Why the long face kiddo?"_

 _Three days had gone by since the incident in the Ninth Circle, and Edi felt bad, she hadn't meant to yell at Charon, she'd just been so upset about Teddy._

 _She looked up from the stairs at her Uncle Winny, "I yelled at Charon, Unca Win. I shouldn't have, it was mean and I don't want to be mean to Charon, I like him, he's always nice to me, he listens to me. Everybody else thinks 'm just a dumb kid but he doesn't he listens politefully. He's super politeful."_

 _Winthrop chuckled, "I know you like him kid." He sat next to her, "Lord knows why." He muttered to himself. His tone increased as he turned to her, "Maybe you should apologize to him then."_

 _Edi's nose scrunched up in confusion, "Apolo-huh?"_

 _"Say sorry." He corrected._

 _She looked at her mismatched shoes, "Mammy says I ain't allowed in the Ninth Circle."_

 _Winthrop gave her a knowing look, "We all know you go in there everyday."_

 _She looked up at him eyes huge, "Does Mammy_ _ **know**_ _?"_

 _He chuckled, "Nah kid, I cover for you, so does Doc, Tulip, Quinn and Patches. Hell, if Gob was here he certainly would."_

 _"Do you think he'll ever come back Unca Win? Mammy misses him lots."_

 _He put an arm around her shoulders, squeezing lightly, "I don't know Edi, I hope so."_

 _She smiled, "Me too, Mammy says I'd like him."_

 _Winthrop smiled, "He would've loved you."_

 _"So you think I should say sorry to Charon?"_

 _He nodded, "I think so."_

 _She nodded back, she didn't mean it and she didn't want to lose her friend. "Ok." She went to get up._

 _"First though I got a job for you."_

 _"It is important?"_

 _He smiled at her kindly, "Very important."_

 _She practically bounced on the spot, "Do I get ta go in the vents?"_

 _"Yes sweetie you do."_

 _"Yes! Ok I'll help." He laughed at her enthusiasm as she darted down the stairs towards his workshop._

* * *

 _Charon was gone. Edi looked around the bar, he wasn't anywhere. She wiped a smudge of dirt across her face, Mammy would go spare when she saw the mess she was in, but she helped her Uncle Winny and that made her proud. She clambered up onto the bar stool next to Patches, he was slumped over on one arm, he smelled of whisky and cigarettes. She liked Patches he was so funny. Always tripping and stumbling everywhere, she asked him about it once and he told her he did it to make her laugh. He always spoke funny too, she guessed it was because he'd never had anyone around to teach him to talk proper like her Mammy had done with her._

 _"Hi ya Az."_

 _"Midget! How's my favourite customer?"_

 _"Where's Charon?"_

 _Az's face darkened, "I sent him out with Quinn, he needed to retrieve some things for me."_

 _She frowned, "Why does he stand in that corner all day? It must be boring."_

 _"He's the bar's bouncer cupcake."_

 _"A what?"_

 _"Hesss a guard, he protucts tha bar princess." Patches piped up._

 _"Why does he do that for?"_

 _"Because I hold his contract."_

 _"What's that?"_

 _"It'sa piece of papur he hass ta does whatever he says." Patches pointed a finger towards Ahzrukhal._

 _Edi frowned, her little nose scrunching up, "That's mean Az."_

 _"Mean?" A brow was raised and Edi shrank back at the dark look on his face. "Have you_ _ **seen**_ _what Charon does? He throws people out o this bar everyday Edith. He sheds their_ _ **blood**_ _,_ _ **breaks**_ _their bones - does_ _ **terrible**_ _things."_

 _"Giveit a rest Ahzrukhal, sheesh just a lil' gurl."_

 _He turned cruel eyes on Patches, "You of all people should be_ _ **very**_ _thankful Charon isn't here right now."_

 _"Charon's life ain't his zone, I don't hold nufin gainst 'im. Hees a gud man." They stared each other down for a minute. "Come in princess I'll tell ya 'bout the time me nose felled off."_

 _She slid off the stool following a stumbling Patches out the door, "_ _ **Really**_ _? It felled right off?"_

 _The door clicked shut behind the pair._

* * *

 _Edi rubbed her eyes, it had been a whole week since she'd tried to apologize to Charon. He was_ _ **still**_ _gone, she hoped the muties hadn't hurt him, she frowned she would kick them_ _ **real**_ _hard in the shins if they had._

 _"It's time for bed Edi." She followed her Mammy's voice to her small room - it was a closet really but still, it was Edi's. Her Mammy smiled as she walked in the door. "Up you go."_

 _Edi stopped mid clamber, "Mammy! Mammy! A Teddy!" She reached out and grabbed it, it was soft and warm and just like her old Teddy. "Where did he come from?"_

 _Her mother frowned. "I don't know." She stuck her head out the door. "Quinn?"_

 _"What's up Carol?"_

 _"Do you know where this teddy came from?" Edi heard a chuckle._

 _"You'll have to ask Charon about that."_

 _The young girl's face lit up. "Charon's back?" She bounced off the bed and sprinted out into the hall and towards the Ninth Circle, she'd catch hell for it but she didn't care. She threw the door open and raced to Charon's corner._

 _A missile in the form of a small child clutching a teddy bear barreled into Charon's leg, to his credit he only stumbled a little._

 _"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean it. Promise. I came to say sorry ages ago but you weren't here." She looked up at him, he was actually looking down at her. "Did you get me this Teddy?" He looked back up staring across the room at the bar, Edi watched his jaw work back and forth for a second._

 _Then he suddenly looked down and he smiled, "Yes."_

 _Her eyes widened, his voice was low and gravelly._

 _"Thank you." She grinned at him. He_ _ **spoke**_ _! He_ _ **actually**_ _spoke!_

 _Charon bent down in a crouch to come level with her. "You are welcome Edi."_

 _"You're actually_ _ **talking**_ _to me."_

 _He chuckled, a smile tugging at his lips, "You better go. You will catch hell from your mother for being in here."_

 _She smiled, "Don't care." She hugged the teddy, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, I didn't mean it, I promise."_

 _"It is alright, you are forgiven."_

 _She hugged him tightly, "Thank you so much for this Teddy. I won't let him out of my sight." She pulled back._

 _"Go on now."_

 _"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked hopefully._

 _"You will. I will not be able to talk to you again, but you will see me and I will be listening."_

 _Edi tipped her head to the side, "Why not?"_

 _He sighed quietly, "It is complicated Edi."_

 _She nodded, he didn't have to tell her as long as they were friends._

 _"Ok." She kissed his cheek."Bye!" She skipped out of the door._

 _Charon chuckled and shook his head as he stood up. He seemed to turn to stone again, body ridged, face impassive. He met Ahzrukhal's murderous gaze head on, internally he smirked. The beating he would have to give himself later would be worth it to see that sweet little girl smile._

* * *

"- I guess that's truly when we became friends."

Hancock chuckled, "That's the cutest fucking story I've ever heard."

She laughed, "Yeah, extreme fluffiness there."

His face turned serious, "Was he a slave?"

She sighed, "He wasn't wrong it really was complicated. Charon was a part of a special forces unit in the US army before the bombs. They took exceptional soldiers from all different regiments and put them into a program. It was designed to make the perfect soldiers, they tortured, dehumanized, and brainwashed them to blindly follow orders. Whoever held the contract held the soldiers loyalty. They were killing machines. Charon was one of three people to survive the program. They couldn't totally kill their emotion or their souls which is probably why they turned to synth production."

"Who were the other two?"

"Patches and Argyle. Patches contract was destroyed with his holder in a nuke attack, he went ghoul and his contract holder was disintegrated along with his contract. He didn't know what to do with himself, I think he went a bit mad - the alcohol calms him. Argyle ran with Dashwood for many many years, unfortunately according to the old man he was killed by slavers in sixt-eight. Charon's the only sane one left."

Hancock looked at his fingernails, "Fuck that's rough."

"Yeah it ain't all bad though, that girl? The Lone Wanderer? Yeah, she bought Charon's contract when I was ten, she let him live like a human being again, he ran with her for a few years, then he ran with me from when I was twelve to when I was eighteen, and a year here or there in between whenever I go back to DC."

"Who holds his contract?"

She grinned from ear to ear, "Nobody, he's free. The contract was destroyed when she died. She didn't just free the wasteland, she also freed my best friend. I'll forever be in that girl's debt."

"Damn, it ain't often you hear about a real hero."

She smirked, "There's a few out there, remind me to tell you about where I went after DC."

"I'm on the edge of my seat." For once the tone wasn't laced with sarcasm, he was genuinely interested.

Edi smiled as she looked up into the darkening sky, "Time to kill some raiders?"

His smirk was positively manic, "Yeah."


	11. Chapter 11

"Ok, you got everything?"

"Yes Hancock."

"You know the signals?"

"Yes Hancock."

"Are you _sure_ you don't want me to do it?"

"Yes Hancock."

"Do-"

" _Hancock!_ "

"What?"

"It'll be _fine!_ Geez, you're worse than Mammy."

"Yeah well I don't want to be the one who has to go to DC and tell her I got you killed. It'd be much worse than my spine through my eyeball."

Edi was touched, "You'd go all the way to DC to tell them I'd died?"

"Fuck doll you got a family, I couldn't just let them wonder. I might be goin' to hell for all the stuff I done, but I'd go to the deepest circle for that shit."

She had an overwhelming urge to kiss him at that moment, she pushed it down, "You ain't goin' to hell Hancock, you're a good person."

The helmet tipped to the side, as he regarded her, "You don't know anything about me."

"I know enough. You're smart and funny, you don't take crap, you tell it like it is. People respect you, you're a great leader. You're kind to people and ruthless to those who cross you. You stick up for the little guy."

 _Plus you're handsome as hell, have a silver tongue, and a voice like the very carnal act itself._

"I didn't always."

She smirked, this whole self-depreciating thing was cute. There was literally nothing he could say that would make her think anything but the world of him, "The past is the past, the future is uncertain, today is a gift, that's why they call it the present. Carpe Diem. Let's do this, yeah?" She received a nod, her thumb flicked the catch on the button, "See you on the other side." Pressing the button she disappeared, "I'm a _ninja!_ "

His chuckle was cut short as he realised something quite significant,

 _Damn - I'm fallin' for this crazy braud._

* * *

She quietly slit the throat of a raider, there was a sick gurgle then silence. She slid the body gently to the ground. Creeping into the prefab she logged onto the terminal, the hack was a fairly simple one, earning her the deactivation of two of the five turrets, and a small safe which she looted quickly. She snuck back outside carefully navigating the mine mouth. Edi chewed her lip, this was taking longer than she had hoped, praying the Stealth Boy didn't give out she slunk around another boulder and towards the other prefab.

She stopped short as a raider came into view, she was just calculating how she was going to kill the woman when the Stealth Boy flickered.

"Huh?" The raider turned to her position.

The Stealth Boy gave out, " _Shit!_ "

The woman squinted into the darkness. Edi saw realization dawn on her grubby face, and she opened her mouth. Edi sprinted forwards. Tackling her to the ground. "Sorry, but I worked too damn hard for this job." With one hand over the raider's mouth she twisted her neck until she heard it snap. Edi cursed lowly, "I hate doin' that." She ran quickly towards the small building, opening the door she slid inside as quietly as she could in a suit of full power armour.

Powering up the terminal she stared at the screen, "Of course this one would be more difficult - assholes -" she murmured, she picked up a discarded pencil and pad, scribbling madly she looked back and forth between the screen and the paper. "Ok let's try; Watch - nope alright - uh - oh! Oh, I know!" She clicked the password, "Yeah assholes take _that_ shit!" She disabled the turrets.

Edi climbed out of the building and flicked her headlamp on and off twice. She hid in the shadows waiting for Hancock. In a matter of minutes he appeared beside her.

"Nice job doll." He pulled out his combat knife. "We'll take as many as we can quietly, then when they start shooting we hit 'em with the hard stuff, yeah?"

She nodded, "Sounds good. There's two down already, so provided the patrol hasn't increased from this morning we should have thirteen to take out."

Hancock looked through his scope, "There's four asleep."

She looked through her scope and swore, "No night vision, I'm still missing the crystal to build it."

"Here," he passed her his sniper rifle, metal of their suits clinking lightly as they touched. Edi thought about how nice it would be to be able to be this close to him without the harshness of metal in the way.

 _Get your fucking head in the game girl!_

Closing an eye she stared down the scope, "We could go in quiet or -"

"Or?"

"I have a silencer in my pack, we could put it on your rifle and shoot 'em from here."

Hancock tipped his head to the side, thinking, "You're a killer shot, you could hunker down here and pick them off, I could go in quiet and take out the sleeping ones. Then we could spring on the rest and nail their balls to the wall."

She nodded, "Alright. Gimme a minute to mod the gun." Edi pulled out her tools and quickly added the silence to Hancock's sniper. "Ready?"

"Yep."

He began to move away from her, she grabbed his arm, "Hancock?"

"Yeah toots?"

"Be careful."

She couldn't see it, but she knew he was giving her that trademark crooked grin, "Anything for you, doll."

She watched him carefully through the rifle, following his movements down into the mine. She picked off a raider who would've seen him had the man turned around. The body fell quietly to the ground. Hancock looked to her position giving a lazy salute. She grinned. Edi continued to pick off raiders close to his position as he descended, she watched as he quickly dispatched three of the four sleeping raiders, as he was finishing the last one, another came out of the mines, she lined up the scope with his head, she fired as he fired a missile that was heading straight for Hancock. Her heart leapt into her throat.

"No. _NO!_ " The dust cleared and he was motionless on the ground.

White hot rage filled Edi, she swapped the rifle out for her shotgun and charged off the edge of the cliff, the servos absorbed the impacts as she jumped down each level. Bullets hailed down around her bouncing harmlessly off the power armour.

Every raider that crossed her path ended up with holes in vital places, in her haste to get to her fallen partner, she didn't see the raider hopped up on Psycho coming from behind her, the tire iron hit her helmet with such force it made her ears ring.

She turned, " _Big_ mistake bucko." She pulled her machete and brought it down with all the force she could muster onto his head, it made a sickening crack and the raider fell like a sack of tatos to the ground. She put her boot to his face and pulled out her weapon.

Finally the bullets began to die down, she popped the last raider in the face with a buck shot and turned to help Hancock. She stopped short, looking around.

 _Where was Hancock?_

"You comin' Edi?"

She looked over to the entrance of the mine.

 _Holy Shit!_

He was leaning against the wall, shotgun in hand.

"You almost DIED!" She jogged over to him, the leg of the power armour had been shoved carelessly in his pack, blood was seeping through the skeletal framing. "That looks bad."

"It's fine, hit it with a stim and dosed up on Med-x and Psycho, let's finish this."

She gave him a skeptical look that he obviously couldn't see, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, Edi. I'm fine."

She shoved the rusty door open, "Alright let's give 'em hell."


	12. Chapter 12

Hancock dropped to his knees. They'd been fighting for a solid hour, descending deeper and deeper into the mines. When the leader exhaled for the last time, he collapsed.

"All that's on this terminal is more of the same stuff plus a creepy - Hancock!" He felt her heave him over. "Shit! Can you stand up?" He shook his head sluggishly. "Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck!" She looked around.

 _Damnit!_

She took a deep breath to stop from panicking. There was no way to get him out of here. He couldn't stand up and even if she took his Buffout, she wouldn't be able to carry him, not in his power armour. She looked around the room for something to drag him out on. She spotted a deepish puddle, she remembered him telling her to avoid it as it was filled with rads.

 _Radiation!_

That was it. She grabbed him under the arms.

"What - what are you doing?"

She heaved him in the direction of the puddle. "Radiation. You're a ghoul, it's like a fucking wonder drug to you guys. If I can get you - urgh - if I can get you over there, you'll just have to sit in it a bit and you'll be good as new. In DC we used to carry bottles of highly radiated water for Charon, I can't believe I didn't think of that for you. I'm a fucking moron." There was a muted splash as she dragged him into the pool.

"What now toots?

She dropped in a heap next to the pool. "Now we wait."

He slowly reached up for the helmet and clicked the release. Pulling it off he tossed it to the side. "Light us a smoke will ya?" She released her own helmet and pulled out the pack from a compartment in the armour. She lit two and handed him one. "Thanks." There was a brief pause. "Tell me a story doll."

"What _now?!_ "

He chuckled, "I ain't goin' anywhere."

She smiled, the pain in his features was starting to ease. "Ok, where was I?"

"You left DC."

"Right, right. You ever heard of the Mojave?"

"Nevada, right?"

"Right. What about New Vegas?"

"Heard stories."

"Yeah, well that was the first stop on my little wandering journey."

"You _been_ to New Vegas?"

"Well - not at _first_ , you used to need to pass a credit check before entering. I didn't have two caps to rub together back then. Spent the first few months in Freeside. Got in tight with a gang there, The Kings? Yeah that was a laugh. Good people them, kinda like Goodneighbor but more - well - they modeled themselves after some old singer before the war, so - _theatrical_ perhaps is the right word? I dunno - anyways, the King - he's their leader - he has this cyberdog -"

"A what?"

"Rex, he's half dog half robot, has two metal legs and a metal jaw. His brain is in a jar on the top of his head."

"You're shitting me."

"No braminshit, I swear. Remember that box I left in your office?"

"Yeah."

"That's got pictures of everyone, in DC, Vegas - hell I even got pictures from the casino I helped rob."

Hancock's jaw dropped, thankfully his cigarette was saved as it stuck to the remains of his lower lip.

"You _robbed_ a casino?!"

"Yeah man, you ever heard of Dean Domino?"

"He was a entertainer right? The - uh shit what was it - the King of Swing?"

"The very same. Helped him rob the Sierra Madre. He's a very rich man now."

"But he was a singer, before the bombs, how -" She smirked at him,

"He's got a lot less skin now. Still equally as charming and impossibly English."

"He's a ghoul?"

"Yep, he sings at his girlfriend's casino, the Lucky 38. There's a story behind that too. You'd like Digit, she's just like you. So's Dean in his own way, got a ruthless streak in him that could definitely rival yours. Hell, you'd probably adore the whole Vegas gang. You like cookies?"

"Cookies?"

"Yeah, Grandma Lily makes some killer fuckin' cookies. She's a nightkin, thinks all of us are her grandkids, it's cute really."

"What's a nightkin?"

"Nightkin's are like big purple super mutants. Don't actually know the origins of that story, I'll have to ask Keene sometime. Anyway, the NV is awesome. Lot'a hard work on Digit's part to make that place what it is now. She's another one of those special people in the world. Man, I remember when I first met her, it was just after I turned nineteen -"

* * *

 _Edi was pleased, she managed to help several people on this trip. Though, she did have to go to the Legion camp and fight a dog to the death for a new brain for Rex. She hated that place with such a fucking passion it made her blood boil. She passed as an amour trader to get into the place, thankfully one of her good friends was an undercover NCR soldier posing as a Legion and was able to get her safe passage, otherwise she might have ended up as a slave, the Legion had no respect for women - like_ _ **at all**_ _. She really wished she could wipe that scum from the face of the Earth, but she was one nineteen-year-old girl. What the hell could she do?_

 _She'd been in the Mojave a little over three months and she'd made fast friends with the leader of the local gang in Freeside. Rex was his dog, she'd offered to help because she couldn't stand the poor little guy suffering any longer. She'd worked her ass off and thankfully it had paid off. Rex was so happy, running around like a young pup again, the King would be pleased._

 _She entered their base sneering at Pacer as she walked by him. She knocked on the door politely, her Mammy had taught her good manners after all._

 _"King? You in?"_

 _"Hey kid, take a seat." She sat at a table near him, there was a woman and a ghoul at the table in front of him. She smiled at the ghoul, they didn't seem to mind ghouls here, in DC they were less than human, but out in the Mojave, they weren't treated any worse than a smoothskin in most places. "So Edi, you been gone a good while now, thought the Mojave had taken you."_

 _She smirked,"Nah, take a hell of a lot more than this dirt ball to kill me off. I managed to get Rex his operation, looked like he'll be around for a long time yet."_

 _"Really? Aw that's great news. Look at you boy! Thank you Edi, really." He held out a bag to her, "Payment for your work."_

 _She held up a hand, "I didn't do it for the money King. I love dogs, I was happy to help."_

 _"Then you'll be happy to take the caps, you used your hard earned supplies on helpin' me out. Take it, and see Pacer on your way out, he'll hook you up with a pass to get into New Vegas."_

 _She narrowed her eyes at him as she took the bag, "Is it legal? 'Cause I ain't really lookin' to get a beat down from the securitrons."_

 _"I can get you onto the Strip."_

 _Edi looked at the woman sharply, "And you are?"_

 _"Most people know me as Courier Six. Name's Digit." She held out a grubby hand._

 _Edi took it cautiously, "Edith, people call me Edi."_

 _"Pleasure. This here's Raul."_

 _"Hola Edi,"_

 _"Español?"_

 _He nodded, "Si."_

 _She grinned, "Es un placer conocerte."_

 _His brows hit the brim of his hat in surprise he grinned, "No me digas que hablas español?"_

 _She nodded, "Un pequeño, mi mamá me enseñó a partir de sus libros."_

 _"Ella te enseñó bien, usted habla con confianza."_

 _Edi blushed at the praise, "Gracias." Turning back to Digit, she gave her a cheeky look, "You have very handsome friends Digit."_

 _Raul snorted rolling his eyes, "You flatter an old man."_

 _Digit turned to the King, "I'll investigate that issue for you, I know some people, should be able to find out what happened to your buddies. Come on Edi, I'll get you passed through onto the Strip, you only have to go through the credit check once."_

 _Edi nodded._

 _As they left Pacer sneered at Digit, "Digit."_

 _"Stick it up your ass Pacer."_

 _Edi snorted._

 _"Got somethin' to say Edi?"_

 _She flipped him off, Raul chuckled, "Seems you like Pacer as much as we do, chica."_

 _She grinned at him, "Oh man, don't even get me_ _ **started**_ _on how much of an asshole that guy is." Edi squinted as they came out into the sunlight. "If you're looking for information on whatever job the King gave you guys you should talk to Rotface, most people don't notice him so he hears a'lot'a stuff he ain't s'posed to."_

 _Digit looked thoughtful, "Why you telling me that?"_

 _Edi shrugged, "Tit for tat, you're helping me for no other reason than being nice, I'm doin' the same, my Mammy raised me right, bein' nice ta people ain't gotta cost you a cent."_

 _"A cent?"_

 _Edi rubbed her neck, "When you hang around a bunch of pre-war people you pick up old saying, you know?"_

 _"Ghouls?" Raul tipped his head to the side in question._

 _"Yeah, pre-war ghouls. Like you."_

 _His cloudy blue eyes narrowed, "I never said I was pre-war."_

 _Edi smirked, "You didn't have to, people aren't really fluent in Spanish these days - the ones that are - don't have that clear of an accent. You're from Mexico, yeah?"_

 _"Si. I was a rancher."_

 _"Also the way you referred to yourself as an old man, that also points to the face you've been around for longer than most." Digit and Raul stared at her, "I used to play detective as a kid." She replied, shrugging, "Now wanna go see Rotface?"_

 _Digit and Raul exchanged a look, "Sure."_

 _Edi approached the ghoul with the two in tow, "Rotface! How's my favourite bum?"_

 _There was a rough chuckle, "The usual Miss Drifter. Give us a cap and I'll tell you the news."_

 _She crouched down, "I'll give you ten if you can tell these nice people what they need to know."_

 _He eyed her carefully, "Twenty."_

 _She smirked, "Fifteen."_

 _"Seventeen."_

 _"Fifteen and a can of Cram."_

 _The ghoul grinned toothlessly, "Alright Edi." He looked up at Digit, "What did you folks want to know?"_

 _"The word on NCR supply give outs."_

 _"Aww come on now that's my best info."_

 _Edi looked at him pointedly, "A deal's a deal Rotface."_

 _"Word is they're working out of a shop near the old train station. There's a password mind."_

 _"Any idea what the password might be?" Digit asked._

 _"Sure, I_ _ **might**_ _, but it'll cost ya 250 caps."_

 _Edi raised an eyebrow, "Hell no it won't Rotface. Fifty caps, maybe."_

 _The ghoul shook his head, "Nope 200."_

 _"Fine, 100_ _ **and**_ _I'll buy you a drink at the Wrangler."_

 _Rotface smirked, "I'd rather have a nice dinner to go with that drink."_

 _Edi gave him a cheeky look, "Are you asking me out Rotface?"_

 _He chuckled, "Nah sweetheart you ain't my type."_

 _Edi laughed, "Damn shame that is! Fine, 100 caps and dinner and drinks on me."_

 _Rotface grinned, "Hope."_

 _"Thanks RF. I'll be back at seven for our date handsome."_

 _Rotface grinned, "I'll be here, ya big charmer."_

 _As they walked away, Digit leaned in, "Can you trust him?"_

 _"Yeah, Rotface ain't got no reason to lie to me, plus he's seen my temper in full swing and the size of my guns."_

 _True to her word, they breezed passed the security bots at the gates to the strip, "You helped me, now I'll help you." Digit pushed open the gate, "Welcome to the Strip."_

 _Edi looked around in awe, "Wow."_

 _Digit grinned, "What a tour of the Lucky 38?"_

 _Edi's eyes widened, "You can go_ _ **in**_ _there?"_

 _"Yeah, besides I got wind of a job that might be right up your alley. Come on."_

* * *

"Was it the casino job?" Hancock asked, looking good as new now.

Edi nodded, "Yeah it was. Looks like you're all better so story time is over for now. Let's get this fucking sword and get outta here this place is giving me the heebie jeebies."

* * *

 **Notes:**

Translation for the Spanish.

"Es un placer conocerte." - It's a pleasure to meet you.

"No me digas que hablas español?" - No shit you speak Spanish?

"Un pequeño, mi mamá me enseñó a partir de sus libros." - A little, my mammy taught me from her books.

"Ella te enseñó bien, usted habla con confianza." - She taught you well, you speak with confidence.


	13. Chapter 13

They both stared down into the hole. It was filled to the brim with water and if the suit's Geiger counter was any indication it was filled with high levels of rads.

Edi gave Hancock a sideways glance, "What you think?"

"Can't do it in this power armour, I'll sink like a stone."

She raised an eyebrow, "Since when did we decide it was you diving into the unknown?"

He leveled her with a stare, "Since that pool is filled with rads and you've got very little Rad-x left." She sighed, he made a good point. "Undo me will ya?" Edi stepped behind him, twisting the wheel, the suit popped open and Hancock grabbed the sides as he jumped out. He shrugged out of his jacket, dumping it on the ground and placing all his heavy weapons on top - he left his knife and 10mm on.

"Just in case." He smirked, he handed her his hat, "Hang onto this for me will you doll?"

She bit her lip, taking the hat, "Please be careful."

"When am I not?"

She raised an eyebrow, "You took a missile to the legs just hours ago."

He shrugged one thin shoulder, with a grin that was far too casual for someone who just escaped death, "I'll be fine." Edi watched as he dove into the hole.

The next three minutes were the most nerve wracking of her life. Well - ok - her life in the _Commonwealth_ anyway. She paced back and forth, leaning over the hole every ten seconds to see if she could see him.

Finally his head breached the surface, gasping.

She almost fell in, in her haste to drag him to the side, "Shit are you ok?"

"Yeah," he croaked, his other hand came up with a large jagged blade. "Got it." He grinned at her, water dripping off his face. She smiled back, dragging him out of the water, his clothing clung to his body as he dropped down next to her. The stared at each other, grinning and panting.

Then it hit her.

She loved him.

* * *

They exited the mine, exhausted but laughing. Their helmets hung from the backs of their packs. The sword was still clutched loosely in one of Hancock's hands. He slung a hand over her shoulder, the metal of the power armour clanging together in the stillness of the early morning light.

"We make a great team Edi." He stated smiling widely.

Edi looked up at him, grinning shyly, "Yeah we do."

They trudged up the hill, "You reckon that shack a few miles off? We can sleep for a few hours then make our way to Goodneighbor?"

"Sure."

Damnit, she had no idea how to be around him now. She almost wished she hadn't figured it out. She couldn't tell him, he'd just think she was a fool, you can't just fall in love with someone. Her heart said yes though, and the whole thing had just kind of snuck up on her. That admiration she had for him had quickly turned into something much more tangible and she had no idea how to deal with it.

* * *

They reached the camp fairly quickly both eager to just fall into bed and sleep. Hancock pushed open the door and she held up her 10mm as the sunlight streamed into the small shack.

There standing in the centre of the shack, like a deer caught in the headlights of a pre-war truck - was a dog.

Edi froze.

It was large with a sleek white coat and black spots. It's expressive green eyes blinked at her curiously.

"Holy Shit. It's a dog."

Hancock stood very still, "Why hasn't it attacked us?"

"Maybe it's friendly."

"Edi." He warned, she ignored his protest and lowered the gun, "It could take your arm off, look at the size of its head."

She stepped carefully into the shack, "If it tries to take off my arm you can shoot it." She kept her eyes on the animal, hearing him grumble behind her. She grinned like a fool, he sounded exactly like her Charon in that moment. "Hey boy." She slowly approached the massive animal. "Where's your owner huh?" The dog whimpered, "Is your owner gone boy?" The dog padded forwards and butted his head against her hand. Despite its size it didn't look very old. She turned to Hancock, "He has a collar on."

The ghoul shrugged, "See what it says on the tag."

She turned the collar gently in her hand, scratching him behind the ears, "It has a note attached to it."

Hancock shrugged again, entering the shack, "Better read it I guess."

Edi carefully unraveled the piece of paper and began to read aloud, "My name is Ikke. If you have found me then my owner is dead. He was attacked by some super mutants and he knew he wasn't going to survive. He sent me away hoping that I would find some people to take care of me. I am well trained and will help you and protect you. Please take care of me."

Hancock sighed, "Poor thing."

Edi gave Ikke a pat, "Looks like I'm your new owner Ikke." The giant dog wagged his tail and woofed happily, covering Edi's face in slobbery licks. "Ok, ok. I like you too big guy. I'm Edi, and that there," she pointed to Hancock, "he's my partner, his name is Hancock."

The dog pushed passed Edi to sniff the hand Hancock held out. He licked it cautiously, then sneezed. Hancock chuckled, Ikke bypassed the hand and bumped his head against the ghoul's chest. Hancock scratched behind his ears, "Christ! He's a big as a bramin."

Edi grinned, "He's perfect."

* * *

It took Edi, Hancock, and Ikke two days to battle through the Commonwealth and back to Goodneighbor. Ikke was an excellent companion, attacking and helping to take down anything in their way. Both Hancock and Edi had to be a little more frugal with their grenades and molotovs for fear of hitting their new friend, but Ikke more than made up for it. When they finally made it to the gates they were a mess and completely exhausted.

After sharing a quiet drink at the Three Rail, they both retired, eager to sleep. Edi left Hancock at the Old State House with the promise of coming to see him the next day and dragged herself to Hotel Rexford. She barely remembered exiting the power armour before falling into the bed.


	14. Chapter 14

Hancock sucked the smoke deeply into his lungs and stared hard at the wall of his office. It held no answers for him and he growled, frustrated. He had to tell her, just how. She had gone with Ikke to collect the caps for the job, he had stayed behind, feigning some bullshit excuse about catching up on paperwork. In actual fact he couldn't give two flying fucks about the ledgers right now.

Fahrenheit sat across from her friend. "The wall didn't do nothing to you John, why you growlin' at it?" When he didn't answer, she sighed, "Come on John, out with it, what's wrong?"

He looked at her thoughtfully, "Have you ever met something that surprised you Fara? Like - you meet this person and at first you hardly pay any attention to them. You may not be at all attracted to this person, but as you get to know them you notice yourself falling. This person who was once nothing to you has suddenly become everything. All of a sudden they're the most beautiful person you've ever met. It's funny looking back. You never saw it coming, it just kind of - happened."

She blinked, he was either really high and sprouting bullshit or he was serious. The clearness of his eyes told her it was the latter, "You're in love with Edi." It wasn't a question, she could see it in his face. It was the most vulnerable expression she'd ever seen and it made her teeth ache. "Shit." She toyed with the Jet inhaler in her pocket. "Have you told her?" He shook his head. Hearing a laugh in the stairwell she turned her head. "Well now's yer chance ol' boy, here she comes." She smirked. "Don't fuck it up." She pushed herself up, patting him on the shoulder as she passed, "You deserve this John." she said quietly, "I'll see ya later stud."

Edi entered as Fahrenheit was leaving, "Edi."

"Hey Fahrenheit."

"Gunna go for a walk, I'll take yer dog if you like?"

Edi gave her a surprised look, "Oh, sure. Ikke you wanna go for a walk?" The dog woofed happily around a ball in his mouth. "Go with Fahrenheit then, maybe she'll throw that ball you got, huh?"

Fahrenheit smirked, she'd always had a soft spot for dogs, "Sure, come on pup."

Edi threw herself down next to Hancock, oblivious to his inner turmoil. She dumped a large bag on the table.

"5000 caps." She was grinning madly, Hancock gave her a half smirk. Caps didn't matter, not if she walked out of his life, she was a drifter, how long would she stay here if there was nothing - no one - to stay for. He stood up abruptly. Edi frowned, "Hancock?"

He turned holding out a hand to her, "I got something to show you doll."

She took his hand, "Uhh - ok?"

He led her through a back room she'd never been in before, the one he came out of when she'd first come into his office looking for work. She smiled to herself, it seemed like such a long time ago now.

He took her to a ladder, "Mind you step toots."

She climbed up behind him, wondering where the hell he was taking her. He opened a hatch and clambered out offering her his hand again. Edi was pulled up off the last rung and onto the roof of the Old State House. She looked up into the early evening sky, "Wow. Hancock this is beautiful."

He shrugged, looking at his boots, "I come up here to think sometimes." There was a bedroll laying a few feet from where they stood. She imagined nights lying up here and just staring at the sky. Peaceful and quiet. She sighed happily. "Liston doll I -" She stopped looking at the sky and trained her eyes on him. It was the first time she had ever heard him be so - hesitant.

He sighed heavily rubbing a hand across his face. She waited patiently, obviously whatever he had to say was important. "I spent my whole life runnin', I ran from m' life in Diamond City, I ran from m' family," he snorted humourlessly, "hell, I even ran from my own damn skin." She took a step towards him, "The drug that made me like this, I - I knew what it was going to do. I just couldn't stand to look that asshole in the mirror anymore. He was the one who sat by while ghouls were thrown from their homes in Diamond City and he was the one who just stood by while Vic's men slaughtered innocent people. I was just as bad as the people who did those things."

She was right in front of him when he looked up, "You did what you did. That's the past. What you're doing now? Giving people a place to go. Helping the little guy? That? That's who you are. Those things are what makes you the man I fe- uh - I admire."

If he noticed her slip, he didn't say anything, "I guess what I'm tryin' to say rather inexplicably is that - what we got? This - partnership, it's the first thing that's felt right in a fuckin' long time. I - you're a good friend Edi."

 _It's now or never Edith. Man up girl._

"Hancock - John -" she placed a hand on his cheek, "have you ever felt we are more than just friends?"

His eyes widened, then he scoffed, "Am I that obvious?"

 _NO. I had_ _ **no**_ _idea, you felt the same!_

"Look I'm - it's -" he sighed, "who'd want to wake up to this mug every day?"

 ** _Me_** _! I do, you big idiot._

"I would. I love you Hancock."

He searched her eyes with the most openly hopeful look on his face and her heart melted, "W-what?"

She smirked, "You heard me."

His eyes clouded over with something she couldn't quite describe, but it was heady, "Say it again." His voice was like sandpaper on her skin, it sucked the breath out of her lungs.

"I love you."

His lips were on hers in an instant, a textured hand roughly fisting in her hair. She almost collapsed, it was just so fucking perfect.

 _Finally_. Fucking _finally_ after years of wandering she found that place she fit - that person she fit with. His tongue hesitantly licked at her lower lip and she moaned, allowing him entrance. She gripped his hips pushing him backwards towards the bedroll. He dropped to his knees bringing her with him, she pulled at her gloves, throwing them carelessly to the side. She shrugged out of her jacket leaving it behind as he pulled her on top of him. She settled herself over his hips and he thrust upwards roughly.

She gasped pulling her mouth away, "God, this is - like the _one_ time crushing on someone actually turned out in my favour."

He chuckled, "I want to hear those stories later." He kissed a line up her neck, "You were sweet on me?"

She blushed, "Yeah."

He reached up to her shirt, unbuttoning it slowly, "Since when?"

"Since -" she sighed softly as his fingers traced across her ribs, "since that day in the radiation storm." He pushed the shirt off her shoulders, reaching for the tie at the front of the wrapping around her breasts.

"That was the day we first met."

"Officially anyway, I think I was probably sweet on you from the first speech I ever saw you do." He unwrapped her breasts, kneading them gently. "I'd-" She sighed again, "I'd only been in town a few days." She lost all train of thought when he tweaked on of her nipples. He leaned up kissing her stomach, then mouthing at her tits.

Edi reached for his jacket, pushing the red coat off his shoulders, he reluctantly let go of her for the minute it took to wrestle off his shirt. She pushed him back down exploring his torso with her hands, she traced the muscles and remaining patches of skin. Kissing him gently she removed that infamous hat, tossing it to the side. Her hands slid down his chest to his belt, undoing it.

Hancock somehow got her hair out of its tie and her auburn locks cascaded around them in a curtain that smelled faintly of melon flowers. She felt him toe off his boots, which he never laced up fully. She remembered telling him he'd kill himself with those laces, to which he'd smirked and replied that he'd take his chances. His fingers ran through her hair, bringing her back to the present. She pulled away from him for a minute to undo her pants and remove them.

She positioned herself over him again and at the feel of her wet heat dragging over his aching cock, he squeezed his eyes shut. She held herself over him and waited, he opened his eyes - onyx meeting chocolate, "I love you John."

He smirked, eyes filled with wonder, "I love you more Edi."

She lowered herself down onto him. Feeling that heat inside of her was like an instant burst of pleasure so intense she nearly lost it right there. His eyes were filled with love as he began to move beneath her, she kissed him passionately, throwing everything she couldn't express into words into that one kiss.

They moved as one in the most indescribable experience she had ever had. Every sensation had such emotional intensity she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. They reached that beautiful place where you momentarily loose your body together, gasping into each others mouths, sharing air in the most intimate of ways.

She rolled to the side as he arranged the blankets around them Edi stared up at the stars, "At the risk of sounding like an utter sap - I know what my novels mean by 'making love' now."

He chuckled, smiling serenely, "New experience for me too love."

She'd been sister, toots, doll - but never love, that was new. Edi smiled happily, "I love you John."

"I love you more Edi."

She grinned cheekily, "How do you know?"

He stared up into the sky, eyes contemplative, "When I say I love you more, I don't just mean I love you more than you love me. I mean I love you more than the bad days ahead of us. I love you more than any fight we will ever have. I love you more than the distance between us. I love you more than any obstacle that could ever try and come between us. I love you the most. You're my world Edi."

She blinked back the tears, "Ditto." She replied, kissing him soundly.


	15. Chapter 15

_Dear Mammy,_

 _I've got so much to tell you since my last letter. I can't fit it all on paper, so guess what? I'm coming home for a visit! I made a lot of caps from a job we pulled so I can finally come back. I've missed you all so much._

 _I finally got that dog I've been harping on at you for since I was ten. His name is Ikke and he's so adorable, he's just going to love everyone in Underworld I know it._

 _Boston has been great, I've met some amazing people and I have a ton of stories to tell._

 _Mammy -_

 _I'm bringing someone home with me. His name is John, he's mayor of that town I've been living in, Goodneighbor. He's really something Mammy. I think I finally found what I've been looking for all these years, just like you said I would._

 _So we're coming home. I think I'll take him out to New Vegas too, he's never been there. Digit has been pestering me for a visit for ages, and I think it's time to do the rounds again._

 _God, Mammy, I'm just so happy I could scream._

 _I sound pathetic - don't you dare let Gob or Charon read this, I'll never here the end of it - I'm in love Mammy, the proper stuff, that all consuming mushy fluffy love that I thought only happens in those novels you let me borrow._

 _Anyways, we've got to spend some time here, a friend of John's needs our help, her name's Nora, she's pretty awesome, another one of a kind girl I seem to always run into out here, what did Gob call me that time? A legend magnet? Yeah I think that's starting to have some merit, aye._

 _After that though, John's going to set everything up so he can leave his town for a good while._

 _I'll see you in a few months._

 _I hope everything is well, give my love to everyone._

 _I love ya Mammy,_

 _Your daughter,_

 _Edith xxx_


End file.
